"The developers promoted the park as a reason to live in Southside," she said.

Stanley held her son's first birthday at the park, named for the city's first fire truck, which had been kept in the 122,000-square-foot park as a landmark after the vehicle was retired from service in 1970. The park also includes basketball courts and a field often used for baseball.

But in recent years, the park was in bad shape. The playground equipment deteriorated and the fire truck had become unsafe for children to play on.

"I began talking with my neighbors about how pitiful it looked and what we could do," Stanley said.

One of those neighbors, Daryl Hoover, had past experience working on West University Place's parks board. She and her family moved one mile from their West U. home to Southside and directly across the street from Fire Truck Park. Less than four months later, she joined Stanley and they took the lead to improve the park.

"The (Southside) parks board had a survey in May 2010 about what residents wanted to see done with the park," Hoover said. "But the project had just fizzled out from there."

The group set a goal to raise $350,000. They held their first fundraising event in June 2011, and by September they had raised $100,000, Hoover said.

Chan said Southside Place City Manager David Moss and City Council worked with them and agreed to match the group's $100,000. Chan said the group then decided to approach nearby corporations, such as Direct Energy, which donated $15,000 and became their main corporate sponsor. Within the group's first four months they had already tackled their goal of $350,000.

"We were amazed at the generosity when we reached out to corporations," Stanley said. "We decided to keep going."

They expanded their original plan, which had been only to replace the park's 16-year-old playground equipment, to include redoing the basketball courts and baseball field.

Hoover said they devised marketing plans, such as having each resident who donated put a sign in their front yard supporting the project. They also began to have "levels of support," with donations of $500 or more earning an engraved paver on the park's walkway. Bob and Marcie Zlotnik were the largest private donors, giving $25,000, Stanley said.

The fundraising effort brought in $500,000 for the project. Since its completion, another $10,000 has been donated, and the group hopes to renovate the city pool.

When seeking new equipment for the park, the group began to look for the very best park equipment, eventually using three companies, Hoover said.

"We wanted to have something different from the West U. parks to make this a destination for everyone," she said.

Two of the stand-out items at the park are a merry-go-round made of a tire and a climbing wall, both from an European equipment company, Stanley said.

"I had to drive to Pasadena (Texas) to a private school to look at one of these merry-go-rounds," Stanley said. "You will not find another one of these in our area."

Chan said the group removed the fire truck and replaced it with a play structure in the shape of a fire truck.

The fire truck is being stored at Southside's City Hall building, he said, adding that it will take $36,000 to restore it as a monument to be placed next to City Hall.

The park reopened on Sept. 24 with a large ribbon-cutting ceremony, and every day since it has been brimming with children each afternoon. The group said it's been very rewarding to see.

"It's a good feeling to know people are coming from all over (Houston) to see our park," Hoover said. "We did it."

The Fire Truck Park Executive Committee has plans for continued renovations at the park, including the pool. To give a donation or volunteer, visit www.firetruckparkfund.org